FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 5, 2009
CONTACT: Tony Newman at 646-335-5384 or Tommy McDonald at 636-335-2242

Montel Williams, Celebrated Talk Show Host and Medical Marijuana Patient/Advocate, to Receive Award at International Drug Policy Reform Conference in New Mexico

Award Recognizes Williams' Pioneering Advocacy for Compassionate Drug Laws and Safe Access to Medical Marijuana

Montel Williams, veteran TV talk show host and currently the host of Montel Across America, a nationally syndicated daily radio show, will receive the The Edward M. Brecher Award for Achievement in the Field of Journalism at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Nov. 13, 2009. Williams, who suffers from multiple sclerosis and uses medical marijuana to relieve chronic nerve pain, is being honored by the Drug Policy Alliance for his groundbreaking journalism and outspoken advocacy on behalf of medical marijuana patients and providers. Williams will accept the award during the conference awards dinner, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Albuquerque.

Since going public with his personal medical marijuana use in late 2003, Williams has tirelessly campaigned for changes in state and federal laws to expand access to marijuana as a medicine. In addition to writing Climbing Higher, his 2004 autobiography that detailed his struggle with MS and the therapeutic effects of cannabis, Williams has hosted TV shows on the topic of medical marijuana, authored Op-Ed pieces in major newspapers and used his platform as a public figure to press legislators across the country to enact new drug policies based on compassion, reason and science. In particular, Williams traveled to state capitals in Albany, NY and Trenton, NJ, as well as Washington, D.C., to urge elected officials to pass medical marijuana legislation.

"I utilize medical marijuana to help alleviate the extreme neuralgic pain I suffer from," said Montel Williams. "I am not alone. There are thousands of patients like me, and we should not be treated as criminals."

“Montel is in a league of his own insofar as the effort to legalize medical marijuana is concerned,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “No one has used his media pulpit as effectively and passionately as he has in combating drug war intransigence.”

The Drug Policy Alliance, the nation's leading organization promoting policy alternatives to the drug war, bestows the biennial Edward M. Brecher Award to media figures who show the courage and leadership to question official drug war propaganda. Previous recipients include: ABC News Anchor Hugh Downs; Cartoonist Gary Trudeau; The Economist magazine; Rolling Stone magazine; William Finnegan, staff writer for The New Yorker; and Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and Reefer Madness, among other distinguished honorees.

The International Drug Policy Reform Conference, co-hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance in Albuquerque, NM from Nov. 12-14, 2009, brings together nearly 1000 leading international experts, treatment providers, researchers, policymakers and key activists at the leading global forum on drug policy reform. For more information or to register for the conference, please visit www.reformconference.org. To purchase tickets for the awards ceremony: http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=784745.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 5, 2009
CONTACT: Tony Newman at 646-335-5384

NY State Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, Chief Sponsor of Historic Rockefeller Drug Law Reform Legislation, to Receive Award at International Drug Policy Reform Conference in New Mexico

Award Recognizes Aubry's Leadership and Tenacity in Successful Effort to Roll Back Draconian New York State Drug Laws

New York State Assemblyman Jeffrion L. Aubry, a longtime champion of efforts to reform New York's harsh Rockefeller Drug Laws, will receive the Justice Gerald Le Dain Award for Achievement in the Field of Law at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Nov. 13, 2009. Aubry, who introduced bills to repeal New York's mandatory drug sentencing laws in every legislative session since 1997, is being honored by the Drug Policy Alliance for his unyielding commitment to reform culminating in this year's passage of sweeping changes to the Rockefeller laws.

The Justice Gerald Le Dain Award for Achievement in the Field of La is bestowed on those involved in the law who work within official institutions to challenge traditional drug war orthodoxy. Previous recipients include: Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI); federal judges Robert Sweet (NY) and John Kane (Denver); former police chiefs Joseph D. McNamara ( Kansas City and San Jose) and Nicholas Pastore (New Haven, CT); Canadian Member of Parliament Libby Davies; and other distinguished attorneys, activists, judges and others.

Aubry, chair of the Assembly Standing Committee on Correction, led the successful fight to repeal mandatory minimum sentences for most low-level, nonviolent drug offenses in New York and instead return discretion to judges to determine whether to divert individuals to treatment or probation instead of incarceration. The reforms, signed into law in April by New York Gov. David Paterson and enacted in October, signal a shift toward treating drug use as public health issue rather a criminal justice matter.

"Thirty-five years of a drug policy focused on punishing drug users and spending billions of dollars on incarceration has failed to reduce drug use or drug-related crime," Aubry said. "Unfortunately, we have spent hundreds of millions of dollars locking up individuals, mostly African-Americans and Latinos, with drug abuse problems rather than offering them needed drug treatment. This historic reform enacts a sensible, comprehensive and cost-effective approach for dealing with nonviolent drug offenders and will ensure that drug abusers are able to access effective substance abuse treatment and counseling."

Aubry has represented the 35th Assembly District in Queens since 1992. He previously served as Director of Economic Development for the Borough President's Office of Queens. For 16 years, he worked in the drug treatment program at Elmcor Youth and Adult Activities, one of the largest nonprofit social service agencies in Queens.

Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, said, “I don’t know of any state legislator in the country who has fought so long, so hard, and now so successfully to reform a drug war injustice as Jeff Aubry.”

The International Drug Policy Reform Conference, co-hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance in Albuquerque, NM from Nov. 12-14, 2009, is the outstanding gathering in the world of people working to reform local, national and foreign drug policies. For more information or to register for the conference, please visit www.reformconference.org. To purchase tickets for the awards ceremony: http://www.regonline.com/Checkin.asp?EventId=784745.

Dear friends:

It's not too late to join MPP staff at the 2009 International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Albuquerque on November 12-14. The conference — hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance and co-sponsored by MPP and other organizations — will bring together leading drug policy experts to weigh in on issues such as medical marijuana legislative efforts, marijuana arrests, and quite a few other drug policy reform topics.

MPP staffers will be on hand to discuss topics like messaging, effective activism, and medical marijuana patients' rights.

Here are a few examples of sessions featuring MPP staff:

* Aaron Houston, MPP's director of government relations, will talk about Congress, President Obama, and the drug czar.

* Karen O'Keefe, director of state policies, will talk about medical marijuana patients' rights and safe access to medical marijuana. 

* I'll speak on a panel about how to leverage this crucial moment in the fight to end marijuana prohibition.

This conference happens only once every two years, so if you miss this one, you'll have to wait two years for the next one. You can find more information and register by visiting http://www.reformconference.org today.

Will you join MPP at the one of the most important drug policy events of 2009?  We hope to see you there.

Sincerely,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $2.35 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2009. This means that your donation today will be doubled.

Dear friends,

I hope you’re packed and ready to go, because the drug policy reform movement is headed to Albuquerque. 

Next week, more than a thousand people from across the country and around the world will arrive in New Mexico for the 2009 International Drug Policy Reform Conference from November 12-14.  If you haven’t done so yet, you still have a chance to register and join this amazing group.  And you should.

Because you made this conference happen. 

You forwarded our messages to your friends.  You nominated award winners and provided ideas for conference panels and speakers.  And, now, your participation is going to take this meeting to a whole new level.

Just take a look at a few of the things we’ve got going on:

• 60 compelling breakout sessions 
• 200+ speakers, including former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson, Former Foreign Minister of Mexico Jorge Castañeda, and many, many more
• The movement’s premier Awards Dinner, celebrating our 2009 winners such as Donald MacPherson and Montel Williams
• An informal Meet-and-Greet for all attendees, two receptions highlighting the psychedelics community, a 2-night Film Festival and a candlelight vigil on Civic Plaza to honor those currently or formerly incarcerated

And that’s just a small taste of the action.  At the Reform Conference, you’re going to get to know the people who will help you win the drug policy reforms you’ve been working on, and who will set before you new challenges.  So come with an open mind and all the energy and enthusiasm you can muster.  Together, we will push this movement forward.  And we’ll start in Albuquerque.

I’ll see you there.

Sincerely,

Ethan Nadelmann
Executive Director
Drug Policy Alliance

P.S. For details – and last-minute registrations – please visit the conference website.

      and

     Reform Conference Co-Hosts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                             
NOVEMBER 5, 2009           

Most Exhaustive Set of Marijuana Arrest Data Ever Shows No Relation Between Arrests and Use Rates; Penalty Structure Boosts Illicit Market
Florida Has Toughest Penalties, Arrest Rate Highest in D.C, Black Arrest Rate 3 Times That of Whites

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications …………… 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205

                  Jon Gettman ………………………………………………...……………………540-822-5739

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The most exhaustive collection of data ever on U.S. marijuana arrests, penalties and related information, released today, finds no relationship between marijuana arrest and use rates, while penalty structures act as a price support mechanism that boosts the illegal market. Assembled by Jon Gettman, Adjunct Assistant Professor in Criminal Justice at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Virginia, the new report finds:

·      Marijuana arrests have nearly doubled since 1991, while levels of marijuana use remained fundamentally unchanged.

·      Penalties that escalate for increased amounts of marijuana encourage consumers to make multiple small purchases, acting as a price support for the illicit market.

·      Florida has the nation’s harshest marijuana penalties, while the District of Columbia has the highest arrest rate for marijuana offenses.

·      Although the rate of marijuana use is only about 25 percent higher for African-Americans than for whites, blacks are three times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession as whites.

         “These figures paint a devastating portrait of a failed policy that burns through tax dollars while doing nothing but harm,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. “Most Americans agree that marijuana prohibition doesn’t work, even if most politicians aren’t yet ready to publicly agree with their constituents.”

          Gettman’s summary report, “Marijuana Arrests in the United States (2007),” is available at http://www.drugscience.org/Archive/bcr7/bcr7_index.html. The full Marijuana Policy Almanac, including state rankings and individual reports for all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, is at http://www.drugscience.org/States/US/US_home.htm.

         With more than 29,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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Dear friends:

Great news! Two marijuana-related ballot initiatives, one in Maine and one in a ski town in Colorado, won in voting booths on Tuesday.

By 59%-41%, Maine voted to become the third state to license nonprofit dispensaries to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients.

And by an overwhelming 73%-27%, Breckenridge, Colorado voted to allow adults over the age of 21 to possess up to an ounce of marijuana. The Breckenridge initiative was spearheaded by MPP grant recipient Sensible Colorado.

Maine's new law is enormously important. While 13 states permit medical marijuana use, until now only Rhode Island and New Mexico have had laws allowing dispensaries, both of which were adopted by the states’ legislatures. Patients in the other states have had to grow their own marijuana, find someone to procure it for them, or buy it from the criminal market.

Tonight's vote is a dramatic step forward, the first time that any state’s voters have authorized the state government to license medical marijuana dispensaries. Coming a decade after passage of Maine’s original marijuana law in 1999, this is a huge sign that voters are comfortable with these laws, and also a sign that the recent change of policy from the Obama administration is having a major impact.

The new Maine law also expands the number of conditions that make a patient eligible for medical marijuana use and protects patients from discrimination in employment, housing, education, and child custody.

A coalition of activists and marijuana policy reform organizations are responsible for this victory: MPP got the momentum going by drafting the initiative and providing start-up funding to Maine Citizens for Patients' Rights, and the Drug Policy Alliance provided assistance to help complete the signature drive.

If you support initiatives like this, would you please consider automatically donating $5 or more on your credit card each month to help us pass more laws like these?

We have momentum on our side, so now is the time to push even harder for change. Please consider helping us rack up more victories like these.
 
Thank you,

Rob Kampia
Executive Director
Marijuana Policy Project
Washington, D.C.

P.S. As I've mentioned in previous alerts, a major philanthropist has committed to match the first $2.35 million that MPP can raise from the rest of the planet in 2009. This means that your donation today will be doubled.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                             
NOVEMBER 3, 2009

Maine Votes “Yes” on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries,

Becomes 3rd State to License Medical Marijuana Providers; Vote Seen as Latest Advance Spurred by Obama Policy

CONTACT: Bruce Mirken, MPP director of communications …………… 415-585-6404 or 202-215-4205

AUGUSTA, MAINE — In a landmark vote, Maine voters today approved Question 5, making the state the third in the country to license nonprofit organizations to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients and the first ever to do so by a vote of the people. With 49 percent of the vote tallied, the measure was cruising to an easy win with 60.2 percent voting “yes” and 39.8 percent voting “no.”

         Under the measure, the state will license nonprofit organizations to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients and set rules for their operation. While 13 states permit medical use of marijuana, only Rhode Island and New Mexico have similar dispensary provisions, both of which were adopted by the states’ legislatures. Maine’s original medical marijuana law was passed in 1999.

         “This is a dramatic step forward, the first time that any state’s voters have authorized the state government to license medical marijuana dispensaries,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., which drafted the initiative and provided start-up funding for the campaign. “Coming a decade after passage of Maine’s original marijuana law, this is a huge sign that voters are comfortable with these laws, and also a sign that the recent change of policy from the Obama administration is having a major impact.”  

         In October, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a formal policy indicating that federal prosecutors should not prosecute medical marijuana activities authorized by state law.

         Question 5 also expands the list of medical conditions qualifying for protection under Maine’s law to include several conditions that are included in most other medical marijuana states, including intractable pain, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (“Lou Gehrig’s disease”).

         With more than 29,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.

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Baggage * Century of Lies * 4:20 Drug War NEWS

Cultural Baggage for 11/01/09, 29:00 Howard Wooldridge, founder of Citizens Opposing Prohibition + Phil Smith of Drug War Chronicle on the level of violence in Mexico
LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/2644
TRANSCRIPT: Tuesday

Century of Lies for 11/01/09, 29:00 Bradley Jardis, a working policeman is under fire for his involvement with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition + Cliff Thornton of Efficacy & extract from PBS program: "Botany of Desire"
LINK: http://www.drugtruth.net/cms/node/2646
TRANSCRIPT: Tuesday

4:20 Drug War NEWS, 11/01 to 11/08/09 Link at www.drugtruth.net on the right margin - Sun - Phil Smith re medical marijuana hearing in California Sat - PBS "Botany of Desire" 2/2 Fri - Cliff Thornton of efficacy-online.org re future progress of drug reform Thu - PBS "Botany of Desire" 1/2 Wed - Phil Smith report on Mexican violence 2/2 Tue - Phil Smith report on Mexican violence 1/2 Mon - AP report on Mexican efforts to smuggle drugs

Programs produced at Pacifica Radio Station KPFT in Houston, 90.1 FM. You can Listen Live Online at www.kpft.org

- Cultural Baggage Sun, 7:30 PM ET, 6:30 PM CT, 5:30 PM MT, 4:30 PM PT (Followed Immediately By Century of Lies)
- Century of Lies, SUN, 8 PM ET, 7 PM CT, 6 PM MT & 5 PM PT

Who's Next to "Face The Inquisition?": Cliff Thornton of Efficacy-Online.org

Hundreds of our programs are available online at www.drugtruth.net, www.audioport.org We have potcasts, searchability, CMS, XML, sorts by guest name and by organization. We provide the "unvarnished truth about the drug war" to scores of broadcast affiliates i You can tune into both our 1/2 hour programs, live, at 6:30 central time on Pacifica's KPFT at http://www.kpft.org and call in your questions and concerns toll free at 1-877-9-420 420.

The two, 29:00 shows appear along with the seven, daily, 3:00 "4:20 Drug War NEWS" reports each Monday morning at http://www.drugtruth.net . We currently have 69 affiliated, yet independent broadcast stations. With a simple email request to dean@drugtruth.net , your station can join the Drug Truth Network, free of charge.

Check out our latest videos via www.youtube.com/fdbecker Please become part of the solution, visit our website: www.endprohibition.org for links to the best of reform. "Prohibition is evil." - Reverend Dean Becker, DTN Producer, 713-462-7981, www.drugtruth.net

MEDIA ADVISORY                                                                                                            
NOVEMBER 3, 2009

MPP of Nevada Asks Law Enforcement to Explain How Steering Adults Toward Alcohol Over Marijuana is Making Us Safer
Demand comes as major new report shows marijuana arrest rates in Nevada increasing faster than the national average, while binge drinking in Nevada is also growing steadily

CONTACT: Dave Schwartz, MPP-NV Manager……………………………………………702-727-1081

LAS VEGAS — At a news conference on Thursday in front of the new Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Headquarters construction site, the Marijuana Policy Project of Nevada will ask law enforcement officials to explain how steering adults toward the use of alcohol instead of marijuana is making our communities safer. Specifically, MPP-NV will display a sign asking members of law enforcement to complete this sentence: “Steering adults away from marijuana use and toward alcohol makes us safer by ___________.”

     This event coincides with the release of the most exhaustive collection of data ever on U.S. marijuana arrests, penalties and related information. Assembled by Professor Jon Gettman at Shenandoah University in Virginia, the new report finds that marijuana arrests in Nevada increased from 4,504 in 2003 to 7,950 in 2007. The arrest rate for possession per 100,000 residents in Nevada increased 57.9% over that time period, compared to just 12.7% in the U.S. While Nevada law enforcement was using its power to punish and intimidate marijuana users, binge drinking rates in the state rose 16% in those four years, but just 1.8% nationally.

     Who: Dave Schwartz, manager, Marijuana Policy Project of Nevada

     What: Press conference to challenge Nevada law enforcement’s marijuana arrest rates

     When: Thursday, November 5, at 11:00 a.m.

     Where: Southeast corner of Alta Blvd and Martin Luther King Blvd, Las Vegas, NV

      MPP of Nevada is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating Nevadans about the true nature of marijuana and about the harms caused by marijuana prohibition in the state. For more information about MPP of Nevada, please visit http://www.mppnv.org. 

####

One week ago today, Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske (aka the Drug Czar) issued a statement declaring the issue of marijuana legalization a "non-starter" not even worthy of discussion in the Obama Administration.

The Drug Czar's statement also highlighted the extraordinary social and health care costs associated with widespread alcohol use, suggesting that similar problems would occur if marijuana were to be regulated and treated like alcohol.  Yet every objective study on marijuana has concluded that it is far less harmful than alcohol both for the user and for society.

In response to the Drug Czar's statement, SAFER has launched an on-line petition, calling on the drug czar to either start basing our nation's drug policies on reason and evidence instead of mythology and ideology, or start explaining why he'd prefer adults use alcohol instead of a far safer substance -- marijuana. 

Please visit http://tinyurl.com/yj32wxb or click on the button to the right to sign the petition today. Then forward word of it to anyone who might be interested in siging on before we present it to the drug czar.

Along with launching the petition, SAFER has issued...

An Open Letter to the Drug Czar About Marijuana Legalization

On the afternoon of Friday, October 23, at a time when government bureaucrats make announcements they hope will not be picked up by the media, you issued a statement boldly declaring:

Marijuana legalization, for any purpose, remains a non-starter in the Obama Administration. It is not something that the President and I discuss; it isn't even on the agenda.

As the individual most directly responsible for marijuana policy in this country, this seems utterly irresponsible.  Worse, your decision does not appear to be based on reason or evidence.

Let's begin with one glaringly obvious omission in your statement. You failed to cite a single societal or health-related harm caused by the use of marijuana. Not one! Instead, you offered up some weak guilt-by-association scare tactics.

To test the idea of legalizing and taxing marijuana, we only need to look at already legal drugs -- alcohol and tobacco. We know that the taxes collected on these substances pale in comparison to the social and health care costs related to their widespread use.

Apparently, you believe that marijuana users should be punished and perhaps even jailed because alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical drugs are so harmful to users and society.

Sorry, Mr. Kerlikowske, but that just doesn't cut it. If you are going to remain closed-minded in your approach to marijuana, you are going to need to step it up. Unfortunately, you know as well as we do that you don't have a whole lot going for you, which explains your flaccid, evidence-free statement.

Sadly, we have come to expect this kind of nonsensical garbage from our nation's drug czars. (After all, you have Kevin Sabet, a Bush Administration holdover and former speechwriter for his drug czar,

John Walters, feeding you the same old lines.) But what makes your position on marijuana legalization even more shameful is your background as a law enforcement officer on the streets.

You know -- and maybe at some point during your tenure you will have the guts to admit -- that alcohol is really the drug in our society that causes the greatest amount of harm. This isn't an attempt to demonize alcohol, mind you; it's simply based on alcohol's close association with serious health problems and violent crime, as documented by scientific research and government statistics. The use of marijuana, on the other hand, does not have serious health consequences and is not associated with violent behavior.

Again, you know this from your time on the streets. If you've forgotten, just recall the alcohol-fueled Seattle Mardi Gras riot that occurred on your watch. Or ask you're predecessor, Gen. Barry McCaffrey, who called alcohol "the most dangerous drug in America today," during a 1999 ONDCP press conference.

So just why is it that you want to punish people who use marijuana, when you know the likely result is that many of these people will simply turn to using alcohol instead? Ya know, because it's "legal."

We don't want to hear that alcohol does not fall under the mission of ONDCP. You, sir, raised the subject by asserting -- contrary to everything known about the two substances -- that we should look at our experience with alcohol if we want to get a sense of the potential social and health care costs associated with more widespread marijuana use. Moreover, given that the two substances are so popular in our society, you simply cannot discuss the prohibition of marijuana without considering its impact on alcohol usage rates.

You hold a great deal of power in your hands. You can help determine whether we continue to steer adults toward using alcohol -- which you know produces serious societal harms -- or whether we instead allow them to make the rational choice to use a safer substance: marijuana.

Come on. Show us that it is possible to be the drug czar and be thoughtful, open-minded, and accepting of scientific evidence at the same time. Or, at the very least, why don't you find some actual statistics to back up your bluster?